


Blood Sugar Magic

by Pearlinprocess



Category: Sofia the First (Cartoon)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-17
Updated: 2015-08-17
Packaged: 2018-04-15 04:52:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4593549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pearlinprocess/pseuds/Pearlinprocess
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Baileywick/Cedric vampire AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

(( Eventual Vampire!Baileywick/Cedric, what more can I say? Enjoy! XP ))

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

It was bitingly cold that November night, while Baileywick was riding back to Enchancia through a forest several dozen miles east of her border. It had so far been a lovely and leisurely stroll for both him and his horses, and the guards that the king had appointed him, six of the finest men of valor that his kingdom had to offer. He had been sent to a nearby kingdom on some "official business" - It was actually Roland's way of forcing him to take a holiday now and again, because Baileywick couldn't help but notice that the monarch he was there to report to would be too busy to see him for several days, but would provide him with all kinds of indulgences in their absence. Well it had been nice, having his face stuffed with fancy chocolates in Belgium all week, but now it was time to get back home.

The carriage wheels steadily rocked and rolled over the dusty trail they were passing by, when suddenly the horses whined and came to a stop. One of the soldiers remarked, "Strange, sir - A tree had fallen from the forest and onto our path! We'll clear it for you though!"

At their insistence, Baileywick stayed in the carriage as they began to work together to heft the tree out of the way. The steward began absentmindedly grooming his nails as he waited for them, when suddenly, two of the knights shouted in surprise, and then the others began to struggle with some unknown assailant, an assailant which seemed to be dashing all around the carriage, faster than the wind!

Some sickening sounds soon followed, including some short shouts of shock, whimpering and some snapping noises - And then, sniffing. Right outside his carriage door...

The door in question was suddenly torn right off it's hinges, and Baileywick's scream was frozen in his throat as he saw the creature that peered in. Almost like a man, but so deathly pale, with raven black hair and deep crimson red eyes. Grabbing Baileywick by the front of his vest, the beast dragged him out, and Baileywick screwed his eyes shut as he was greeted to the sight of a white-blond vampire and a red-haired vampire female sucking on the necks of two of the soldiers who had died protecting him...

"Sir, look what I've found here!" The vampire who was holding him mentioned aloud. "Can you smell it on him? He smells just like candy!"

In a flash, an imposingly tall vampire with earthen brown skin and coppery-red hair appeared, and snatched Baileywick from the underling. He looked to be about Roland's age, but the steward could tell that he was not only much older than him, but probably the oldest of any of these vampires too. "Of course I could smell him, I could smell his sweet, rare blood before any of you. He's the only reason I've had us following this carriage all night, fool. Now get your filthy hands off of him. This one is mine, and I won't be sharing!"

Baileywick looked up into the leader's eyes in sheer terror. He was already a rather tall man himself, so his captor was certainly intimidating. But besides that, there was a gleam in his eyes, an edge to his smirk - It made Baileywick feel like a rabbit about to be caught, being looked upon like that...

Then, in the next second, the point of those teeth was upon him, piercing his neck with the jagged bones. Baileywick was sure his heart was about to give out from fright, but in the very next instant, a sense of utter euphoria swept over his body. It was like being injected with a cocktail of narcotics, morphine and ecstasy all at once, and his frail, frightened body couldn't bring itself to want to fight back anymore.

Simultaneously, memories began to flash through Baileywick's mind, reminding him of his life before this terrible night, the life he still desperately wanted to live. As his vision began to flicker away, he reached up and grabbed into the vampire's shoulder, pleading, since it was the only thing he could still manage to do, "I... I can't... Not yet, I must..."

The vampire pulled back on a whim, interested, "Hmm? You must what? What's so important to you, my sweet blooded sir?"

Before Baileywick's head lulled to the side, he managed to whisper one last word, "...F-Fealty..."

The vampire raised an interested eyebrow back at him, "My, such loyalty... I must say, that is admirable indeed, sir. I think I shall reward your loyalty - I will even give you a gift. With this gift, you can serve your lordship for the rest of his life. And his children's lives, and their children's lives too, if you wish! HAH!"

Baileywick wasn't conscious when the trickle of strange, thick red liquid hit his lips. He was barely conscious, besides the excruciating pain, through the full-body-ache of his own cellular death. Only after taking his last breath did he regain his remaining faculties, and only then did he realize, that for everything he'd lost, he'd gained some incredible 'gifts' in return...

For example, he no longer needed his spectacles at all - In fact, he could see far, FAR beyond the forests that he might have otherwise been lost in, and he could even feel the pulses of his most precious family members, almost like a physical link to them. How very disconcerting it was, and yet, also? Undeniably thrilling...

Having no idea what else to do in the surreal situation he'd found himself in, the butler stumbled his way back towards Enchancia, burdened both by his weakness, and all his strange new inexplicable strengths. His sense of smell, in particular, had become so strong that it was incredibly disorienting. He could smell every type of plant there was for miles around him, the sweet and the bitter alike. But beyond all of that, there was blood. The blood of his king. It beckoned him like a lighthouse through the fog of fragrances, and his loyalty eventually led him home.

Despite how frighteningly, deathly pale his appearance was, the king immediately commanded his servants to bring the poor man in, and tend to his wounds. He even and especially insisted they continue to do so after finding the two small puncture wounds in his neck. After all, Baileywick had already thoroughly proved his loyalty to them. Now it was time for that favor to be returned...

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	2. Chapter 2

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

It didn't take the Enchancian Royal Physicians very long at all to figure out that there was something very, very wrong with Baileywick. Roland didn't want to believe it at first, but then a trusted clergyman confirmed everyone's fears when he let a tiny single drop of holy water fall on the steward's ghostly white arm, only to leave a burned, bright red mark where it had met with his skin. Besides that, no matter how much everyone else wanted to deny it, Baileywick was no fool, and he wasn't willing to feign naivety for his own sake. He was completely different than he was before, that was much too obvious.

"Your majesty..." He sighed, as the king began to impatiently but still politely insist that the clergyman find someone else who could help, if he could not. "I'm sorry, but it's no use. This isn't something that can be fixed..."

Roland was desperate to help his oldest friend, and didn't want to hear such negativity. "Baileywick, come now..."

"Sir, I'm -DEAD-." The butler returned rather irritably - It was the first time he had ever been irritable with the king and he instantly regretted it, but he still felt so edgy, so weak... "Please forgive me, your highness, but it's the truth... I can feel it's the case. Call it 'undead' if you want, but I'm too far beyond the limits of modern medicine to be helped. Perhaps it'd be best just to let me lay in the ground until I am no more..."

The king looked dangerously indignant against his current attitude, but thankfully the clergyman, a very old but still spry-enough gentleman by the name of Father Francis, spoke up for them both first. "That's quite unnecessary, even with your current condition in mind, sir. You are right that nothing can be done to restore you as you once were, but it is possible, at least in theory, for you to go on living. Now, I just happen to have more experience than most with vampires, so here's what I know - There's a lot of confusing myths muddying up the truth, but a few things are kind of true and a few things are just nonsense. For example, the sun will greatly irritate your skin from here on out, that is true, but you won't burst into flame or crumble into ash. Just stay inside or cover up and take and umbrella if you have to go out from now on. So, at least that's manageable. However..."

The holy man's face went a little grim as he went on, "Unfortunately, it is true that as a vampire you will need to drink blood to survive. And not just any blood - It will absolutely have to be blood directly from a person that is currently alive. Drinking blood that has lost it's vitality for more than just a single minute will make you extremely sick or possibly even kill you. Also, though I have heard of some vampires 'surviving' on animal blood alone, it can really only be barely called that - Surviving. Eventually you will crave human blood too much to control yourself. Vampires tend to have different tastes too, according to what their blood type was in life. You can survive off of any human's blood type, but humans that match your blood type in life will have blood that tastes better to you. However, since you stated that the vampire who changed you, targeted you because of your rare blood type, you might be out of luck if you find yourself picky about how your prospective donors taste."

"Donors?" Baileywick echoed, aghast. "I do NOT think so! I can't expect people to be okay with letting me bite their necks and suck their blood!"

Father Francis shrugged, "Well I didn't -expect- you to expect others to just be okay with it either. I'm perfectly aware you were a gentleman in life, but it would be irresponsible to try and be a martyr in your current state. If you try to live off of animal blood, you will starve yourself into a frenzy and possibly kill someone by draining them. If you feed just a little now and then from willing donors, it will be much easier to stabilize your current condition."

Roland piped up with a bright blush that his pale old friend couldn't help but envy, "To be completely honest Baileywick, I can think of at least five, possibly six maids just off the top of my head that would probably be -very- willing to let you bite and suck on them all you want..."

"Sir!" Baileywick shushed and glared at him, to the king's amusement, although he tried to look somber.

But the vampire expert priest again added sagely, "It would actually be wisest to employ at least three or four people if you can. Feeding from only one donor might cause them to become too weak, or even an accidental drainage. I would suggest no less than at least two or three, in my professional opinion."

Roland nodded, "Well, I'm sorry Baileywick, but that settles it. I won't allow you to simply commit suicide. I and the rest of the royal family will support you one hundred percent with this, and we will do whatever is necessary, -short of taking human life indefinitely-," The king added very pointedly, "In order to keep you well, as long as possible..."

Baileywick stared at his old friend, his previously green, but now red eyes full of gratitude. "...Very well, your majesty. If you insist, I will also agree to pursue what life I still have, and I will accept your help to do it. However, I would truly like to avoid having to take human blood if not absolutely necessary. I understand that this would not normally be possible, but perhaps some magical means might be able to make animal blood suffice? I could at least stand to go ask Cedric about it first before I outright let you start matchmaking me with my coworkers about becoming potential meals for me, right?"

The king snorted, "Well, when you put it like that, it does sound quite a bit more awkward..."

The butler quirked an eyebrow dryly back at him. "You think?"

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

After partaking of the blood of a piglet that was brought to him to sustain himself - Which tasted at once somewhat filling and half-decent enough, but also rather extraordinarily awful, like a dirt and mud pie with bits of bitter chocolate sprinkled in, giving him enough energy to walk but leaving him unwilling to repeat the experience - Baileywick headed up the stairs to Cedric's lair. He had to admit, at least to himself, that he was -really- hoping the sorcerer could find some convenient magical solution to help him now, or else he might have to start taste-testing some of the willing participants, of which there were quite a few, to no one's surprise but Baileywick's.

With a quiet sigh of suffering, the steward rapped smartly at the door. "Cedric? It me, Baileywick. I suppose you heard about what happened by now. I was hoping you might have some kind of magic that could help...?"

The sorcerer took his time answering the summons, and could be heard tripping over and kicking a few things around. Finally he got to the door, although instead of throwing it wide open and glaring as usual, this time he instead only cracked it open and peered out suspiciously. "Are you you able to physically come in if I don't invite you...?"

"Yes, Cedric. That's a vampire myth. I'm perfectly capable of going through a door without someone's express permission, I simply won't because it's rude. Now may I please come in?"

"Oh, I suppose..." He grumbled reluctantly back to the butler, opening the door and allowing for the other man to step inside.

The steward, however, hesitated visibly before doing so. "Good lord man, when is the last time you cleaned this place up...?"

The answer was 'just about never', but Cedric didn't want to admit that. "I was under the impression that that is why we have butlers and maids in castles. Except they never seem to show up around here, I notice!"

"Probably because they don't want to take the chance of being turned into a lizard. Or also possibly because you always keep it so dirty, it's like an exercise in futility..." Despite how untidy it was though, some kind of strange, sweet smell was tickling the steward's nostrils. What on earth was that? Some kind of candy that the sorcerer had stashed away somewhere...?

"A fine excuse!" Cedric pouted and looked away. "Honestly, I don't see why I should help you, if you've never helped me before! And now you're insulting me too!" He whined, sounding both indignant but also a little genuinely hurt.

Baileywick sighed again and rolled his blood-red eyes. "Oh fine. If I clean up your room for you, will you help me find a spell that will keep me from craving human blood?" God, that maddeningly sweet scent was driving him insane - It was almost sickeningly sweet, but also with very feint hints of fine spoilage, like a fancy cheese or the first notes of an aged wine. Had the silly sorcerer left a piece of fruit around to ferment? And if so, why did it smell SO good to Baileywick, when all the human food he had tried to nibble at so far had tasted like dirt...?

In absentminded annoyance, the steward flicked his hand, and all of the various books, bottles, and other such simple objects that were littering the floor, were pushed to the other side of the room, without being touched at all. Both men stared at the phenomenon with wide eyes, until the butler bashfully cleared his throat and mentioned, "Hmm - It seems my new vampire state has granted me telekinetic abilities..."

Cedric quickly got over his shock and added, "Yes, well, that should also make cleaning rooms a breeze, so no dice! Especially because I'm sure such a potion will -not- be exceedingly simple either! So, if you want my help, I'm going to require payment of a different sort!"

The older man raised an eyebrow at him. "Such as?"

The sorcerer smirked and resisted the urge to rub his hands together. Vampire-derived magical ingredients were well known to be some of the rarest and most expensive to procure, because of the unique and considerable danger that came from trying to collect said ingredients from their wholly unwelcoming source. But this, this was the perfect chance for Cedric to get a vampire to willingly hand over some of those rare and expensive ingredients, and all he had to do in return was - Well, pretty much nothing! The potion that Baileywick was asking after didn't even exist! There was a Wolf's Bane Potion to help werewolf sufferers resist their urges, but no such alternative potion existed for vampires. They, unfortunately, had to rely on their own will.

But Baileywick didn't know that yet, so all Cedric had to do was pretend to be looking through his spell-books long enough to get a lock of hair or a few nail clippings, and he'd be golden! But then, on the other hand, Cedric didn't realize that the butler was being so badly bothered by a particular scent in his room...

"It's really nothing at all!" The wizard went on. "Since you're a vampire anyways, I was thinking that it'd be awfully convenient to collect a few simple vampire ingredients from you, and then I can search for that silly spell you're looking for~"

Baileywick wasn't entirely convinced that what Cedric wanted would be so simple, but he wasn't in much of a position to barter, either. "Alright, fine... But in the meantime, I'm going to search around your room for whatever it is you clearly left around! God, what IS that smell...?"

The vampire set to sniffing around the room like a hound-dog, his nostrils flaring rapid fire as those blood red eyes scanned the room. Cedric frowned, but then shrugged and chalked it up as an undead idiosyncrasy, and then began to look through his curio cabinets for a pair of scissors and a vial.

Baileywick kept sniffing, searching, and wondering. That scent was like nothing he'd ever quite experienced before, and it kept changing too - Wine-like at first, it kept growing ever sweeter, suddenly smelling like the Belgian chocolate he'd been fed just a few days ago! Was Cedric stashing some liquor-flavored chocolates somewhere? Yes, it smelled -just- like the ones he had in eaten in Belgium now, except, even better and richer than that...

It smelled as if... As if Baileywick could have known that was to be the last thing his human tongue was to ever taste, and had truly, completely -savored- it. As if that feeling and taste could have been melted down into a thick, creamy, -living- form, that could, for a while at least, sustain his no longer living body, in a very temporary but also very sustainable hyper-paced version of human capabilities... Oh, he didn't even care anymore what it was, he just HAD to have it!

He then opened his eyes, not realizing he had shut them in concentration, and found himself just behind Cedric, as the silly human sorcerer was looking through a cabinet for who cared what. He didn't even realize the vampire was behind him, it seemed, until the older creature suddenly hissed hungrily into his ear, "It's -YOU-!"

"W-What-!" Cedric suddenly squeaked, his body seizing with dread in a single second, as he heard that scary voice behind him, and felt Baileywick's cold hands on his shoulders. He hadn't had his robe on, and suddenly wished he had, because now there was nothing instead of 'barely more than nothing' in the way of Baileywick reaching for his bow, slipping it free from the knot and his neck in less than a second, and in the next second - The sorcerer squeaked again, and much more loudly, as two needle-sharp fangs harshly but swiftly punctured the newly exposed skin before he could do a single thing to stop it.

And as soon as he had, there wasn't a single thing in the world Cedric -wanted- to do to stop him. Sweet Merlin, it was almost as if everything in his piss-bitter life thus-far was worth getting to feel -this-! This, this, -heaven-, rapture! It wouldn't make much sense if Cedric was still aware that he was, of course, being bitten by a vampire, but it felt more like to him as if someone had just encased his entire body in something impossibly soft and fluffy and warm and tingly, and well, to be completely honest, it was absolutely -thrilling-. Like every nerve and cell was singing, including, he was not currently ashamed to realize, -all- those located southward of his brain. It was not the first time Cedric had felt like that towards a man, just the first time it had ever been so free of shame, so he indulged in it, since he didn't have much choice not to, just yet.

Which worked out just fine for Baileywick, who also felt absolutely no shame, at least at first, in sucking the luscious liquid out of the sorcerer's veins. It tasted -just like- the liquor-spiked hot chocolate that he'd had in Belgium the night before, just a tad more tangy, and oh - Suddenly Baileywick realized why, why he had just -had- to have -this- blood.

He was lucky, so very lucky... The king's blood, he was completely familiar with and could smell a mile away, but it was not a kind of blood he wanted to drink especially much, not just because it was the king's, but because it just didn't appeal to his scents. Not to say there was anything wrong with the King's blood of course, he simple just didn't care for it personally. And when the maidens had offered their lifeblood to him earlier, as sweet and loyal as the gesture had been, only one or two of them had blood that smelled even remotely palatable to him.

But it was nothing compared to how Cedric's blood smelled to him now, and now he knew why - The king, most of the handmaidens and the other staff members, their blood types were 'O'. Those two maids that he had given some consideration to, one was an A-positive and the other a B-positive. But Cedric, poor Cedric and lucky, lucky Baileywick - Just happened to share the exact same rare blood type, A/B-positive, and not only that, but Cedric's magic gave his blood an extra boost of flavor and potency...

There was part of the vampire in Baileywick that wanted to keep sucking Cedric's neck until he had consumed every last sweet drop. But, there was another part of the beast that was more intelligent and self-preserving, and knew that the treat's rarity should not be squandered so quickly when it could be stretched out for quite a while. Plus there was Baileywick's human side, which was slowly coming back to him too now that he'd drank enough of the magical-rich life-blood to regain his senses, who genuinely didn't want to hurt him, at least not permanently.

Also, Cedric was just starting to feel the effects of blood-loss himself, his body becoming very weak and suddenly going from pleasantly warm to icy cold. The tingling, he now realized, was turning to numbness, and he stuttered to beg the other, "B-Baileywick! S-Stop now, p-please...!"

With a massive amount of effort, Baileywick forced himself to swipe his tongue just one last time over the wound, sealing it with the magical coagulating properties from his vampire saliva. He then took his hands back from Cedric's shoulders, and the younger and slightly shorter man's legs suddenly buckled underneath him, and he fell to the floor, holding his neck in shock.

The butler backed away until his hip hit the side of Cedric's desk. "Oh my god, Cedric, I'm so sorry...!" He wasn't really, not with how strong and energized he felt now, but he had to at least say that. "I, I... Um, let me get you some juice!" He suddenly offered in a panic, and rushed out of the room to go fetch some.

Cedric stayed on the floor while he was gone. He didn't have much choice, as Baileywick had taken just a -little- more blood than he should have, and he couldn't properly stand right away. So when the steward brought him back a tall, full glass of apple juice, he accepted it silently and gratefully, and gulped it down to restore his strength too.

"I'm -SO- terribly sorry, Cedric..." Baileywick went on, a little more sincere this time. "I just completely lost control for a moment! Your blood type matches mine, and it smelled irresistible to me... Oh, I'm just so grateful I didn't kill you by accident! But you see, this is why finding a potion that can suppress these urges is so important! I can't let myself do something like this again!"

Still sipping at his juice quietly, Cedric seemed to be deep in thought for a moment, before he finally began to speak up again, "Ahem... Baileywick, to be honest, I remembered something just now - I'm afraid there is no potion that can suppress your vampire urges. Forgive me, I must have been mistakenly thinking of Wolf's Bane potion for werewolves. However... Perhaps there is, another agreement we can come to...?"

Baileywick was almost distressed to hear the first news, but he was also surprised by Cedric's honesty, and curious over his second proposal. "What sort of agreement might that be?"

Somehow, despite how pale he was overall, Cedric managed to muster up a small pink blush. "Erm, well... P-Perhaps, instead, in exchange for the vampiric ingredients I asked for after all, I could, m-maybe... Supply you with a bit of my blood, now and again...?" He quickly cleared his throat and added, "Of course, as long as you promise to never take too much..."

Those red eyes immediately flashed and seized upon the sorcerer's brown ones as he held out a hand to shake. He was already craving more of that sweet, rich blood, but it would be prudent to only indulge rarely, just like any other sweet... "Alright Cedric, deal."

However, just as Cedric was about to take his hand, Baileywick suddenly took it back, and added, "As long as you promise not to use said vampiric ingredients to make any potions or spells that will harm the kingdom of Enchancia, or any other humans from any other kingdoms."

Cedric glared and took his hand back, placing them on his hips melodramatically, "Am I seriously getting lectured on morals from a VAMPIRE right now?"

Baileywick steeled his own hypnotic stare back at the sorcerer, amused but not showing it. "As a matter of fact, you are."

The silly slender sorcerer growled, but then stuck his hand back out in determination. "Deal!" He couldn't deny at least to himself that he longed to experience those strange and yet hopelessly addictive sensations again, and besides that, there was probably plenty of other sorts of mischief he could cause with such powerful ingredients, even with the restraint he had placed.

The butler bowed his head in a nod, and took Cedric's hand into his smoothly and then firmly. "It's a deal, Mister Royal Sorcerer. Sir."

They shook on it, and then Baileywick got up and stepped away, and with his newly energized abilities, he used his telekinetic powers to pick up all the things off the floor, and put them in their proper places. "Ahem. Well, I guess that will do until the next time we need each other's... Services."

Cedric managed to get up off the floor, thanks to the energy he got from the refreshment, and then quickly shooed the other man out. "Yes, that will do!"

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

The next night at dinner, the dining room wasn't quite as brightly lit as usual, in consideration for Baileywick, who seemed to be looking much more healthy now, despite his persisting paleness. The children, young teenagers now, even laughed gaily as he floated to and fro, and used his powers to refill their plates. Sofia remarked, "You're looking very lively tonight, Baileywick!"

And he nodded with a smile, understanding and gracious. "Thank you very much, Princess Sofia."

But then Cedric shuffled in, all bundled up, to fetch himself a plate and then run back to his room with it. He was so self-conscious, even with his bow covering it up and his robe tucked around him, and an extra purple scarf on top of that, somehow he felt as if everyone at the table could see the mark where he'd been bitten...

He was almost about to leave the table in peace, but then Sofia suddenly spoke up to him, "Oh, Mister Cedric, your plate isn't very balanced! You have too many sweets! Here, have some of this spinach, and some more meat - They're high in iron you know! And iron is good for your blood! You're looking a little pale, so maybe it might be good for you to add a bit more iron in your diet?"

Cedric's pale skin suddenly erupted with a bright blush. Inside he was thinking, 'I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, YOU BRAT...!' But out loud, he muttered quietly back to her, "...Thank you, Princess Sofia."

Baileywick cleared his throat, "She is right though, Cedric..."

"Yes, thank you!" Cedric snapped back, and taking his more 'balanced' plate with him, he quickly turned on his heel and stormed out of the dining room. As soon as he had left completely, everyone at the table started to snicker and giggle.

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	3. Chapter 3

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A couple of weeks passed, and things went more or less back to normal. Well, more or less, except now Enchancia Castle had an immortal vampire as it's steward, and two perpetually pale but pleased-looking maids.

The Royal Sorcerer, on the other hand, was just as pale, but not quite so pleased. He had been getting his end of the bargain (although part of him had to admit it was kind of weird, having a bottle of Baileywick's hair and nail clippings in his room...) but to be honest? He wasn't nearly as satisfied at all, as he thought he would be...

It wasn't that the blood loss was too much on his body, he was careful to replenish himself after every feeding, by snacking on a few things himself. And it wasn't that the neck wound was too bothersome - Though it did ache much more after the first time, due to the apprehension and having to have the two small scabs broken. But then, as soon as Baileywick's lips and tongue replaced his frightening fangs, the sharp pain and dull aches would immediately melt into something like a strangely acute sense of familiarity, which seemed to increase every time. Especially since, unlike the first time, unexpected and uninhibited as it had been, Baileywick chose to stand in front of him, face to face, when he bit him thereafter, making the pose of the man's lips upon his neck just a bit more intimate...

And that warm feeling somehow continued to get stranger and more intimate too. The first time the feeling was puffy and airy like a cotton robe, but now it was something deeper, thicker - Like still-warm, cooled candle wax... It was a little more disconcerting now, losing himself in a feeling that heavy, and coming back from it was a little harder. The last time he had gotten so lost in it he forgot to tell Baileywick to stop again until he had taken a bit too much, but luckily the sensitive vampire did so immediately once he asked, and held him up and led him to bed when his knees got weak.

It was just... Those parts. The parts where he held him up when his legs got wobbly, or when he absentmindedly smoothed his hands down from Cedric's shoulders to his biceps...

Well, actually, those were the nice parts. But Cedric was well aware that he wasn't the only one Baileywick was seeing for his 'remedies', and that made it a bit less easy to enjoy. The secluded sorcerer didn't normally concern himself with castle gossip, but it was much talked about that the newly vampiric Baileywick had chosen only two of the several women who had offered their 'assistance' to him...

Of course, Cedric had taken it upon himself to scope out the 'competition'... And found himself hopelessly confounded by it. He had assumed, as many people might, that the youngest and most beautiful of the women, such as the lovely little Maid Violet, would be the ones chosen. But that really wasn't the case at all.

The first of the donors was a lady in her late thirties by the name of Antoinette. She was tall and slender but rather plain, with a somewhat large and crooked nose like Cedric's, and dark brown hair. Despite her skinny form, she seemed strong and 'healthy' enough though, at least when Cedric had secretly spied on her, furiously scrubbing pots and pans in the kitchen. She apparently was a widow with two teenage sons and a young daughter.

The other was a slightly older and shorter but considerably plumper woman in her mid-forties, a big-bosom blonde named Bernadette who was one of the king's favorite pudding-makers. She had twice the paunch as Antoinette, but then, she also had twice as many children. Her husband, slightly more of an elder at sixty-two, was still alive, but he was also a very good friend of Baileywick's for many years, and trusted him completely with his wife.

It might have been easier for Cedric to get jealous if the girls Baileywick had chosen were especially young and pretty, but it wouldn't stop him from doing so anyways just because they weren't. In fact, it made him twice as paranoid as before, to be so closely matched with his 'competition', at least in terms of normality. What if that 'healthy-looking' widow was looking for a new husband? And that plump pudding-maker, exactly -how- close was her husband's friendship with the steward? Close enough to, say, share certain things...?

So when Baileywick arrived that night, he didn't try to hide the fact that he wasn't exactly glad to see him, leaning against his desk with his arms crossed. And since he normally was glad to see Baileywick, but tried to hide it, the butler of course noticed the difference right away. "Is something wrong tonight, Cedric?" He inquired perceptively, crossing his own arms to match the attitude.

The sorcerer stretched, and rudely popped his neck, before waltzing around to the other side of the desk and sitting on top of it from that side. "Hmm, I don't know. There might be. To be honest, I've been debating whether or not I wish to continue this arrangement of ours..."

Cedric wasn't looking at him, so he didn't notice the way Baileywick's crimson eyes briefly went wide with barely-suppressed panic, then narrowed in deep annoyance. "Oh? And why might that be?"

"You should know well why!" The sorcerer snapped back at him, "Why would I want you sucking at my neck after you've been doing it with those maids? What, am I not enough?"

He glanced over his shoulder at the glaring demon behind him, and was almost scared by that offended expression, until Baileywick suddenly snorted and began to chuckle - Then Cedric was downright terrified.

"Oh Cedric... You stupid, adorable bastard. Aha. Ahahaha!" His chuckle then turned into something even less restrained and much darker, almost villainous. The vampire side of the steward was clearly the one in charge right now. "You want me to be honest? NO, you're -not- enough! I need a certain amount of blood a day to live, and if I tried to take it all from you, you would DIE! We both know neither of us want that, so unfortunately, not only do I have to consume human blood, yes, doing it from multiple donors is necessary! However..." He suddenly stopped in his tirade, and let out a sigh.

"I suppose I have to understand why it bothers you... But since it can't be helped, we're going to have to talk about why that is, Cedric... You know, even before I had heightened vampire senses, I could usually tell when certain people were... Growing increasingly fond of me." Baileywick wasn't capable of blushing anymore, so Cedric did it for him, which caused the vampire to give him a toothy grin in return. "So, might it possibly be, that you trying to blame me and the kitchen maids for these unpreventable circumstances, is your way of saying you wish to be considered more special than they?"

Cedric forced himself to look away again. He couldn't stand that hypnotic, scarlet stare. "I suppose your new vampirism has granted you mind reading abilities too, so what's the point in trying to hide anything?"

"Honesty is usually the best policy anyways." Baileywick answered calmly.

Cedric rolled his eyes. He knew Baileywick couldn't see the action, but could still probably tell somehow that he'd done it. "Fine then, you want me to be honest? YES, I want to be considered special! Not just by you, by everyone, but especially you! After all, if I'm not special to you, why would you risk taking me, another male, as a donor? Or do you truly just like how I taste?"

Suddenly, the butler was not so calm at all, and he reappeared in front of Cedric in a flash. His intense eyes were staring into other man's dangerously, but he was also smiling serenely, despite the obvious aura of something much more volatile in the air between them. "Let me tell you something about taste, Cedric... All those candies and sweets you like to indulge in? The cinnamon buns and the chocolate bonbons - Jellybeans, cookies, wafers? I liked them too. But, I do not get to indulge in those things anymore..."

The sorcerer sucked in a gasp as the demonic steward leaned in, and slipped his hand in next to his cheek, caressing the smooth skin with his fingertips. "There is literally only one thing in this world that gives me any sense of satisfaction at all anymore... Now, I of course would never take that which isn't mine to have." He suddenly added, taking back his hand just as the shorter man began to shake. "But since you've been so honest with me, the least I can do is return the favor. So here is the whole truth of the matter..."

Stepping back from the sorcerer, Baileywick leaned his hips against the desk next to him instead as he began to ponder. "When I start my day with Antoinette, it's like having the first cup of coffee in the morning... Except I always liked my coffee with sugar and cream, and Antoinette is like a cup of plain black coffee. I can still drink it, and it gives me the energy I need to get up and around, but it's just a little too bitter..."

He crossed his arms as he considered his next words a bit more carefully, "When I drink from Bernadette, after serving the family their lunch at noon, it's a bit more enjoyable. She's like a cup of mint tea with a single sugar cube, and a vanilla bean scone. She's sweet enough, but the flavor is still rather boring and bland to me. A bit too much like baby food, and my tastes are just a bit more refined than that. So, it's only when night falls that I have anything to look forward to..."

Cedric gulped as those red eyes glanced back at him. "Now, you, on the other hand..."

The mortal let out a sharp gasp as he suddenly felt himself pushed back, splayed across his desk, and in a second Baileywick was on top of him, legs on either side of him and their hands entwined together. "You taste like... -Chocolate-. Hot, milk chocolate, spiked with liqueur, and topped with thick, frothy cream... You taste like the kind of thing my priests used to tell me was gluttonous to indulge in. A sin. But then, since I'm an unholy creature of the night now, I must say, I really can't bring myself to give a damn anymore about any of that... What about you?"

Cedric stared back at him, this dark new Baileywick, in shock, compelled to continue to tell the truth. "Being from a witch and wizard clan, Christian morals specifically aren't regarded so seriously... However, the issue of magical procreation tends to make some sorcerers side-eye same-sex relationships..."

The vampire snorted. "Somehow I just can't see you desiring a brood of your own?"

"Oh, are you kidding? Give me a gaggle of the precious little cretins!" Cedric replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "Obviously giving my parents grandchildren is -not- something I really feel enthusiastic about doing..."

"I completely understand." Baileywick nodded, "I love children, but if anything is an indulgence, it's certainly kids, and those priests from my past were always trying to get people to have more of those!" He chuckled in amusement, but then leaned down, almost close enough to kiss the other man. "So then, what reason do we have not to indulge in what we want...?"

Suddenly though, the vampire bypassed his lips, and whispered in next to his ear instead, "If this is truly what you want, my magical treat..."

A strong shiver went up the sorcerer's spine. Baileywick's hands and breath and skin were cold, but somehow still managed to fill him with heat. "Y-Yes!" He whispered back, squeezing those pale, slender hands. "I -do- want this, it's just... Oh, I want -so much- more too..." He hesitantly admitted, his cocoa-brown human eyes glancing away.

The butler nodded briefly, before sliding his mouth to that delectable throat, "Then you shall have it... In due time. But first, dear sweet Cedric - I hope you don't mind, but I'm feeling a bit peckish..."

Gently nudging his jaw to the side and pulling the bow free before returning his hands to the magic man's, Baileywick swiftly sunk his teeth into the newly exposed neck, breaking the skin and causing the blood to flow. But after that, and unlike every other time before, he was in no rush to simply suck the blood out of his veins. This time, he lapped leisurely against the wound, drawing out polite mouthfuls of the living liquid in unhurried kisses. This both allowed Baileywick more time to savor his meal, but also, it transferred more of his pain-inhibiting, pleasure-producing saliva into the sorcerer's bloodstream, which left Cedric a moaning mess underneath him.

And Baileywick couldn't help but notice, as he was still sitting on Cedric's lap, that a bit of a mess was beginning to be made elsewhere, too... Unfortunately he had no sexual desires to indulge in himself anymore, but he certainly didn't blame young-blooded Cedric for his natural reactions either, and to be honest, like Cedric's magic, it seemed like the sexual energy was enhancing the blood's flavor and potency, making it like a much stronger kind of brew. The kind of beverage that would leave one feeling light-headed and intoxicated, just as it was currently doing to Baileywick.

As delicious as it was though, he knew he ought not let himself imbibe too much off of it, and so the steward finally gave one last lap to the reddened pin-prick holes, sealing them again, before pressing a firm, heavy, and slightly sloppy-drunk kiss the still-healing flesh. Cedric, inexperienced as he was, was already on the brink from just the weight pressing down upon him, and the purposeful wet bites and kisses upon his sensitive neck. But when Baileywick did that, he suddenly sucked in a loud, sharp gasp, and bucked his hips up against the butler's, gasping several short, rapid breaths while his eyes screwed shut, and then relaxed with the rest of his body.

Baileywick found himself at once glad that he had pulled away before that happened, as with that much energy at once, he would have undoubtedly become too drunk off of it to even stand. At the same time though, he was irresistibly curious about what that rush of energy might have felt or tasted like. Oh well, there was always next time...

In the meantime, Cedric had finally caught his breath, and peeked his eyes open shyly, although he looked away from the older man as soon as their eyes met, as he saw that maddeningly satisfied, toothy smirk. "Um..."

Before he could say anything else, and potentially ruin the mood, Baileywick quickly leaned down and pressed a chaste but meaningful kiss to the sorcerer's lips, before pulling back and mumbling down to him, "Pardon me, Cedric, but I'm going to have to add one more addition to our agreement - You're going to have to let me see you like this again... And again..."

Without permission, the wizard's lips stretched into a grin. "Alright... But I've got one more addition too - You're not getting rid of me when I get old and die. I plan on living a while yet, but I want you to make me into a vampire later, too!"

The butler abruptly blinked down at him in great surprise. "W-What...?"

"You heard me!" Taking his hands back from the vampire's, he crossed them over his chest instead. "Why let yourself waste away into a skeleton when you've got a boyfriend who can make you become immortal? I mean, obviously I still want to live to reach a decent old age, but I also want to be turned before I start getting too grey and wrinkled - I want to be the younger, hotter vampire in our vampire duo!"

Resisting the urge to smack his forehead, Baileywick opted instead to roll his red eyes. "Cedric, that's ridiculous. You don't really want-"

"I've wanted to be a vampire since I was a little kid, you lucky jerk! Now that's the deal, take it or leave it!" He glared up at him stubbornly, neglecting to mention that he had also wanted to be a dragon and a merman around that age too...

So the steward slowly sighed in defeat, "Oh... Fine!" Perhaps, when that time finally came, Cedric would realize why it was such a bad idea and change his mind... But then, knowing him as well as Baileywick did, he seriously doubted it - And it was just fine if he didn't. From now on, if Cedric made a mess of things, Baileywick would be there to help him clean it up.

'...Well, within reason of course,' Baileywick added to himself, as he glanced irritably at a pile of dirty laundry on the floor nearby. That sorcerer of his could still be so slovenly!

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(( The End! =D ))

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